Having recently taken a sales job, I was looking forward to working out of my home and traveling a bit to see the Midwest. Of course, given the medical technology field I am in, it is absolutely necessary that I have broadband internet access to upload and download sizeable files, for which my employer reimburses me. No problem. Well, one problem: I chose SBC Yahoo DSL.
Not that it did not work. When I installed it, aside from an issue of having the modem too close to the fax (who knew?), it worked quite well. But then I had to move. It was not a whopping move, one street over to be exact. I notified SBC so my phone and DSL could be transferred over. They told me the phone would be hooked up Monday, then the DSL Wednesday. Okay, a couple of days on dial-up, not great, but I could cope. Then Wednesday came, and guess what? Oh, you got it: no DSL.
I called the company to inquire as to the whereabouts of my vital service, you know, the one I am locked in to for a year. I spoke to five bubbly reps who wanted to know how they could assist me today, and I had to repeat my phone number (which I had entered on the keypad for no apparent reason) and the entire scenario five times, since no one seemed to clue in the next one on the issue at hand. I was beginning to lose patience. It was bad enough, but it was the kind of bureaucratic run-around we have all come to know and love. Then it got really good.
Oops. Silly them, they had forgotten to enter the disconnect order for my old address. So they would have to do that, which would take several days, then send a new order, which would take a further several days. Bottom line: another week and a half ought to do it. Now, I am fairly certain I emphasized that I HAVE to have broadband to do my job. Going two weeks with dial-up (which they kept trying to pacify me with) was keeping me from doing my job. My boss is a great guy, but two weeks without DSL because someone I never met was too scatterbrained to enter an order is going to be a huge problem for me, and for my family for that matter.
So, sensing I was getting nowhere, I did what any red-blooded American man would do: I turned my wife loose on them. Usually that works pretty well, as I have learned from our private disagreements, but SBC just did not see the problem. In fairness, they did offer to prorate the bill (duh?), but the fact that their incompetence was endangering my job did not seem so urgent to the army of SBC reps. When asked what I needed them to do (the only really logical question posed), I stated flat out, "I need broadband DSL access, or I need to be let out of my contract so I can find someone who can provide it." Somewhere in the secret "quality assurance" tapes at SBC I am on tape. But no dice. It is my big, fat problem, even though they screwed up.
So tomorrow I will call the cable company, who incidentally can be here TOMORROW, and pay for broadband out of my own pocket, because SBC Yahoo is too impotent to make my connection happen and too ignorant to realize their own failings and complete lack of customer service.
Buyer beware. I recommend carrier pigeons over SBC Yahoo. At least they are reliable.
0 comments